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Justice League Beyond Vol. 2 Issue 007
The Justice League team present immediately launch into an attack against White Knight. White Knight is enraged at Animal Woman's presence and he seems grimly delighted at having found an entirely new race of people to hate in the form of The Living Statue. Zachary can sense that White Knight's fires are magical and uses his own powers to neutralise his opponent's flames. After blows are exchanged Animal Woman's head is left ringing. However Zach uses a spell to transform White Knight, disbelieving, into an African American. Meanwhile Steel Shiva's computer-assisted senses had picked up a sniper firing at Mastermind from a nearby building. Activating his jets he burst through a window and grapples the figure within. Somehow she wriggles free of his many arms, draws a katana, and adopts a battle stance. In the following exchange Steel Shiva's energy blast is parried and the katana also proves capable of cutting through his armour. With White Knight subdued Animal Woman wonders where Steel Shiva has got to. Soon the rest of the team are rushing to his aid. Animal Woman's arrival provides a distraction and allows the first hit against the mysterious opponent. Soon, with the tide of battle turning, the sniper tries to escape through a concealing smoke. With their enhanced vision Steel Shiva grabs her and David delivers a knockout blow. As the smoke of battle clears, Zachary is able to identify her as Recon. While they have her unconscious Zachary tries to read her mind to determine both who hired her. Both for the Mastermind job and for her best known assassination attempt, President Mari McCabe. Although she acts through intermediaries she has some ideas as to who is responsible. Perhaps the United Kingdom, France or Germany for Mastermind and China the other one. An army major asks the whole group to come inside for a while to give statements to the Department of Metahuman Affairs, a request which they comply with reluctantly. The major offers to take Mastermind to their medical bay where he can take care of a minor bullet wound. David manages to get a look at Mastermind when he takes his helmet off, despite two walls being in the way. Eventually the men from the DMA arrive and begin taking statements. After these are completed they are thanked for bringing in Recon. A truck is just departing for a secure holding facility. Zachary just snorts and Steel Shiva says that they'd be more than willing to help find her when she escapes. Back at the Satellite most of the group still certain that there is more to Mastermind than meets the eye. After the discussion Akshay going back to finish the new permanent teleport power unit in his office, Maxine to continue her reconciliation with Ginny and Zachary to continue the investigation of Recon with one of his contacts in the British secret service. His contact is sceptical about Britain being responsible for the attempted assassination and suggests France or even America. President Luthor is well-known in her distaste of Metahumans, Zachary isn't entirely convinced. In the evening that he's booked in to play a charity gig at the Institute. The gig goes well and he has a chance to saw Franz in half. As the gig is ending and Zachary receives a mental message from Mastermind asking for his help. notices his waver in focus and, as soon as they are off stage, leads him to Das Ritter Von Nacht's headquarters. The two men return to the Satellite and round up the rest of the team. The active members beam down to the location specified in the message, a run-down neighbourhood with several abandoned apartment blocks in the area. Mastermind is signalling from a window that they should come up but the buildings don't seem sturdy enough for Steel Shiva and David. Reluctantly, Mastermind comes down and immediately requests sanctuary and the protection of the Justice League. Animal Woman is sceptical but the sound of helicopters is heard approaching finishes the discussion. Flusher transports them to Doom Patrol headquarters and out of American jurisdiction. Mastermind tells them that after questioning he was held captive. He had to 'persuade' his guards to let him go. He pleads that all he wanted to do was to make a difference. Although Steel Shiva suggests that he could join the League, Mastermind just doesn't want to hurt people. Eventually he comes to a decision, he'll use his own powers to make himself forget, to go back to an ordinary life. He writes some documents to wind up his company and Zachary teleports back to his home in Britain. Mastermind removes his helmet and costume, wraps them up for Zachary to take them away and destroy. He asks if he may remove the magician's memory of having met him but Zachary says he'll do that himself, Mastermind accepts this. He strains his mind and powers until a trickle of blood leaks from his nose. He looks up to see a stranger looking through his window but before he can do anything the man tips his top hat, opens a door in thin air and vanishes. In the evening David raises the idea of moving out of the satellite. His experiments with wings have confirmed this. He needs space to live and to fly. Kid Flash suggests several locations, including Metropolis and Uluru in Australia while Akshay offers a cottage on his estate in Kashmir. While visiting the sites he is tempted by Uluru but he decides on the cottage on the Adani estate. It has a mixture of convenience and space with the Himalayas dominating the horizon and a teleport station nearby for quick return to duty. Akshay organises a photo opportunity to publicly offer this refugee a place to live in this dimension while making it clear that the privacy of his newest tenant is sacrosanct. Afterwards Akshay gets back to managing his company and Maxine and Ginny plan a dinner party with a difference, the world is calm and peaceful. But it is a watchful calm and the never-sleeping eye of the Justice League International gazes over the world, waiting for its next threat.